V&A Museum Alters Exhibition Catalogues Under Chinese Censorship Pressure
The Victoria and Albert Museum in London has made adjustments to its exhibition catalogues following requests from Chinese authorities, according to The Guardian. Specifically, a 1930s map depicting British colonial trade routes was removed from the 'Music is Black' catalogue, while a map and a photograph of Vladimir Lenin were taken out of the 2021 publication for 'Fabergé: Romance to Revolution.' These alterations stem from collaborations with Chinese printing companies, which necessitate adherence to the standards set by Beijing's General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP). The V&A characterized these modifications as 'minor' and noted they would cease production if any complications arose. The 'Music is Black' exhibition is set to debut this Friday at the new V&A East museum.
Key facts
- The V&A removed a 1930s map of British colonial trade routes from the 'Music is Black' exhibition catalogue
- A map and photograph of Vladimir Lenin were removed from the 2021 'Fabergé: Romance to Revolution' catalogue
- Chinese printers C&C Offset Printing requested the deletions to comply with GAPP standards
- Several UK institutions including Tate and British Museum use Chinese printers to reduce costs
- The 'Music is Black' exhibition opens this Friday at V&A East
- Sam Dunning of UK-China Transparency called this part of a disturbing pattern of transnational repression
- Jessica Ní Mhainín of Index on Censorship warned economic dependence on China drives self-censorship
- Last year Paris's Musée Guimet was sued by pro-Tibetan groups over alleged Chinese influence
Entities
Artists
- Leslie MacDonald Gill
- Vladimir Lenin
- Gus Casely-Hayford
- Dennis Moore
Institutions
- Victoria and Albert Museum
- V&A East
- Tate
- British Museum
- Guardian
- UK-China Transparency
- Index on Censorship
- General Administration of Press and Publication
- C&C Offset Printing
- Musée Guimet
- Museum of London Docklands
- British Library
Locations
- London
- United Kingdom
- China
- Beijing
- Paris
- France
- Southampton
- West Indies
- Tibet
- Soviet Russia
- UK
- Britain
- Taiwan
- Tiananmen Square
- Europe
- Asia
- Wales